Ready for a Little Spring Shopping? Consult These Tips for Making Better, More Sustainable Choices

Discussions about sustainable fashion can get overwhelming fast. One minute you’re talking about the magic of organic cotton, and the next you’re rubbing your temples over the 26 billion pounds of textiles that end up in landfills each year, or the giant plastic island floating in the ocean, or the mind-boggling surplus of clothes that get heaped on developing countries. Those hurdles can feel insurmountable, but last night’s end-of-Earth Month event at The RealReal’s store in Soho left most attendees feeling galvanized, not daunted.

Julie Gilhart, consultant and former fashion director of Barneys New York, sat down with Claire Bergkamp, head of sustainability and ethical trade at Stella McCartney, to chat about these issues—and how every person in the room can work towards solutions. There were Gen Zers sitting next to industry veterans in their 50s, and they all learned something new. Much of it simply comes down to awareness: Yes, there’s a lot of depressing information to digest in 2018, but once you’ve learned that the glue in your sneakers is toxic and nonbiodegradable, won’t you think twice before buying another pair? (Better yet, maybe you’ll pick up Stella McCartney’s inventive new “glueless” sneakers, which are held together by hooks and stitches.) And when you discover that conventional cotton accounts for 25 percent of all the pesticides on Earth, won’t you start looking for “organic” on your T-shirt labels?

Gilhart and Bergkamp insisted those seemingly small changes can truly make a difference. “What you can do as a consumer is to just be more conscious of who and what you’re buying,” Gilhart said. “Every time you buy something, you’re basically voting for that business,” Bergkamp added. “It’s a vote of confidence in the way that brand produces. So if you don’t like something they’re doing, talk to them and tell them what you don’t like.” And if they don’t change, don’t buy from them anymore. If you’re taking a break from shopping altogether, your voice is just as strong as your dollars. “We live in a moment right now where [millennials] and even the younger generation have a voice,” Gilhart said. “Look at what we’ve been through with the kids in Parkland, gun control, the Women’s March. We’re living in a time when a voice can be heard, and believe me, companies are listening.”

Below, we’ve pulled more of Gilhart and Bergkamp’s tips for making positive changes this year, whether you’re a shopper, an aspiring designer, or already in business.

1. If you’re in the mood for new summer clothes . . .

Our hectic lives and the ease of fast fashion have taken a lot of the joy—and consideration—out of shopping. You can run into a high street store, pick up a few items for $30 or less, and be out the door in minutes. Gilhart spoke about pausing to assess if you really love or need something, or if it’s just a mindless cheap thrill. “If you want that designer coat, get it at The RealReal, where it already exists,” Gilhart said. “And if you’re buying new, buy from small, local designers. It’s really easy to dig into what they’re doing [in terms of sustainability].”

We’re accustomed to thinking about the immediate benefits of a new purchase, but companies like Stella McCartney want you to consider what happens to the garment when you’re done with it, too—whether that means selling it, gifting it, or holding onto it until, eventually, it decomposes. “For us, our definition of sustainability means thinking about the sourcing of materials, processing, dyeing, and making sure you’re using low energy and low water, not using harmful chemicals, sewing [the garment] in an ethical factory, and making sure it has a long life so it ends up somewhere like The RealReal, where [someone else] can extend its life for a very long time.”

Gilhart and Bergkamp both mentioned Rent the Runway, too, where you can get the thrill of new clothes without the commitment. Every time you rent a dress or bag, you’re essentially reducing its carbon footprint just by wearing it. “I think rental needs to play a very important role in disrupting the large companies that aren’t taking sustainability seriously,” Bergkamp said. “I would really encourage people to support it.” (Other rental services include Armarium and Le Tote.)

2. If you’re an aspiring designer . . .

“My advice to every brand I speak to and anyone starting a business is that you’d better start [thinking about sustainability] now, because everything is about to get really transparent,” Gilhart said. “In just the past year, it’s in everyone’s conversations. Seventy percent of millennials want to buy something that’s responsibly made, and in 10 years, they’ll have more spending power.”

“Sustainable and modern go hand in hand,” Bergkamp added. “If you want to have a modern business, you have to be thinking about this and the impact your business will have on the planet—because if you’re not, you probably aren’t going to have a business in 10 years. Things are not how they were 15 or even five years ago, and a company that isn’t thinking about their footprint, how they can reduce it, and how they can maintain the supplies they rely on, they won’t be here in the future.”

The benefit of starting a brand from scratch is that you can “design into” a sustainable model. First, you figure out which fabrics you’re comfortable using, which factories you want to work with, what those factories are capable of, and what it’s all going to cost . . . then you start designing. “The real innovation in this industry is materials,” Gilhart said. “It’s super fascinating. Companies are growing leather in a lab, and making silk without worms. I think fashion design needs to change a little bit [to adapt to those technologies]. So much of this is about the materials.”

3. If you’re already in business and want to make some changes . . .

“The problem with preexisting brands is that they have their systems [in place],” Gilhart said. “Changing that is really hard.” Stella McCartney’s label was premised on sustainability from the get-go, specifically as it pertains to animal welfare (her clothes and accessories are all vegan). Still, her company is virtually unrecognizable compared to when it launched in 2001. McCartney is constantly improving and innovating, and in the past few years alone, she’s made high-tech materials a core tenet of her business, from recycled ocean plastic to mushroom leather. It’s proof that large brands can shift in a more sustainable direction, even if they don’t have McCartney’s experience and have to start small. “Every day, I’m working on our supply chain, trying to understand the systems we use, the materials we use, and finding solutions for them,” Bergkamp said. “We just announced a new partnership with Bolt Threads last year, which is a start-up in San Francisco that figured out a new way to make silk using yeast, sugar, and water. Every day it’s different.”

Incorporating a buy-back or recycling program is a major undertaking for companies, but if it’s at all possible, it would be a wise decision as the industry shifts its focus to “circularity.” Gilhart called out Eileen Fisher and Patagonia as two brands that have long embraced a circular model by accepting old garments from customers and recycling or repurposing the materials into other clothes. When you think about the billions of pounds of textiles that end up in landfills each year—and the fact that only 1 percent of textiles are recycled—those kinds of solutions feel especially urgent.